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Caterpillar D11
The Caterpillar D11 series is a giant of a Bulldozer for the mining industry. Primarily designed as a Bulldozer, but also used for push loading scrapers, and ripping rock overburden. The D11N which was introduced in February 1986 to replace the D10. The D11N had some major improvements over the D10, it includes a bigger track and blade,a longer track by 21 inches. The U blade was just under 21 feet long and 7-7 inches high. This upped the blade capacity to 45 yards. The D11Ns weight was now 204,517 lbs. It was 770 hp powered by a 2,105 cubic inch 3508 V-8. The D11Ns improvements made it over 10 percent more productive then the D10. In 1987 an hydraulically powered impact ripper was added to the D11N which raised the weight up to 225,950 lbs. This would be come known as the D11N Impact Ripper. The D11R and D11R Carrydozer were introduced at the Las Vegas at Minexpo 1996. Both were 770 hp and that would be increased to 850 hp. later in 1997. Other improvements made to the D11R were Fingertip Controls and Electronic Clutch and Brakes. The FTC allowed the D11R to be steered with a single lever (joystick)on the left hand side. The D11R now weighed 216,963 lbs. The Carrydozer version has a special blade with a curvature that allowed 57 yards to be pushed. The 'Carrydozer' had the structure strengthened considerably for the extra weight and much bigger blade that it carried up front. Both D11Rs got a new 3508B EUI diesel engine with electronic controls at 915 gross hp. The Carrydozer versions weight is just a shade under 120 tons at 239,550pounds.Caterpillar Chronicles, by Eric C Orlemann, MBI, ISBN 0-7603-0667-2 According to Caterpillar by the year 2000 over 3,000 D11s have rolled out of their plant in East Peoria. The current D11T was introduced in early 2008 and is also 850 hp. This comes as a regular bulldozer and a Carrydozer like the previous model. As with the D11R the D11T Carrydozer can push 57.9 yards while the regular D11T can push 45 yards of earth. The Caterpillar D11s were designed for massive dozing and pushloading of scrapers on mine and construction sites around the world. D11s are primarily used for moving large quantities of material (dirt, rock, aggregate, etc.) short distances in relatively confined places. For example, they are often used in quarries. The D11 is most commonly found in use in large scale forestry, mining, and quarry operations. D11s can be adapted for agricultural and rock ripping by fitting a ripper, a long claw-like device on the back of the tractor. Rippers can come singly (single shank) or in groups of two or more (multi shank rippers). Usually, a single shank is preferred for heavy ripping. Ripping rock allows the ground surface rock to be broken into small, easy to handle and transport rubble which can then be removed so that grading can take place. Agricultural ripping allows rocky or very hard earth to be broken up so that otherwise unarable land can be put to use in agricultural applications. For example, much of the very best land in the California wine country consists of old lava flows. Ripping shatters the lava, allowing practical agriculture for the wine industry. Hard earth can also be ripped and decompacted to allow the planting of orchards which otherwise could not grow on the land. These machines are so big that they have to be broken down for shipment to most sites. Some are shipped in the USA by flat railcars, with just blade and frame removed. Others are broken down into several units for transport.Colossal Caterpilar, Eric c Orlemann, ISBN 0-7603-0874-8 The dozer blade on front of the tractor usually comes in 3 varieties: # A Straight Blade ("S-Blade") which is short and has no lateral curve, no side wings, and can be used for fine grading. # A Universal Blade ("U-Blade") which is tall and very curved, and has large side wings to carry more material. # A "S-U" combination blade which is shorter, has less curvature, and smaller side wings. The nearest direct competitor to the Caterpillar D11 is the Komatsu D-475. The Cat can be distinguished from the Komatsu by the elevated drive sprocket or "High Drive" system which results in a triangular, rather than oval, shaped caterpillar track. A bigger machine was built by Italian firm ACCO twin CAT engines giving a combined power of 1300 hp, and weighing in at 183 ton, in the 1980, but this was a one off special.Colossal Earthmovers, Keith Haddock, MBI, ISBN 0-7603-0771-7 See also * Bulldozer * Caterpillar D9 * Caterpillar D6 * Caterpillar Inc. * Civil engineering * Construction Plant * Benjamin Holt * Tractor References *Wikipedia (part author of article) External links * Caterpillar D-Series Track-Type Tractors — Official Caterpillar website * Short review of large dozers D11 Category:Bulldozers Category:Tractors by model number Category:Tractors built in the United States Category:11 (model number) Category:Tractors of unknown horsepower